HBO Max and Paramount+ to merge under Paramount if Warner deal clears

What a Paramount-Warner deal could mean

Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery approved an $81 billion sale to Paramount on Thursday, AP reported, a bid that values the transaction at nearly $111 billion when debt is included. While the companies said the deal is still subject to regulatory review, the agreement would significantly reshape the ownership map for streaming services, Hollywood production and U.S. television news.

Paramount Skydance, which acquired Paramount only last year, would also assume control of Warner’s major streaming properties. The companies’ executives have said they would combine Paramount+ and HBO Max into a single platform, though they have not said what the combined service would look like or what it might be named. David Ellison, Paramount’s chief executive, also suggested that HBO could remain separate at least in terms of production, saying during a conference call that “Our view point is, HBO should stay HBO.”

Ellison tied the streaming strategy to distribution reach rather than a single brand identity, describing how combining platforms would allow the content from each library to reach a broader audience than it could independently. Critics, however, have questioned whether customers would see benefits in exchange for the reduced number of platform choices, warning that more consolidation could mean higher prices for subscription services even as subscription costs continue to climb.

The streaming shift would join two sizable content arsenals. Warner’s HBO and HBO Max lineup includes series such as “Game of Thrones” and “Sex and the City,” while the company’s broader library lists films including “Barbie” and “Superman,” with Warner also owning DC Studios. Paramount’s catalog, AP reported, includes titles such as “Top Gun,” “Titanic” and “The Godfather,” along with “Yellowstone,” which sits in Paramount’s portfolio.

In the U.S., according to streaming guide JustWatch, AP said HBO Max controlled about 12% of on-demand subscriptions in the first quarter of this year, compared with 3% for Paramount+. If the companies combine those services, AP said the combined share would still trail Prime Video’s 17% market share and remain below the 19% share commanded by Netflix, while Disney—through Hulu and Disney+—holds about 27% of the market.

Beyond HBO Max, AP said Paramount would also acquire Warner’s Discovery+ streamer and would fold additional properties into its existing streaming base. Paramount already owns Pluto TV and BET+, and its ownership would expand further if regulators allow the deal to proceed. The companies have not laid out an integrated timetable for how the services will be merged beyond saying they would be brought together.

A merger would also alter the business of making movies and distributing them in theaters. Paramount and Warner Bros. are among Hollywood’s oldest studios, and AP said executives have described plans to grow the combined slate to more than 30 movies per year while keeping Paramount and Warner Bros. as separate operations. Ellison also told the industry at CinemaCon last week that the company would offer a 45-day exclusive theater window for its films.

Still, AP reported that others worry consolidation could affect jobs and the fate of projects inside studio pipelines. Regulatory filings, the story said, indicate the combined owner would look for ways to cut costs, including layoffs and downsizing of overlapping operations, while the deal itself requires Paramount to take on billions of dollars in debt to finance the acquisition.

The move would arrive after recent consolidation already reduced the number of major Hollywood studio groups. AP said the industry’s “big six” shrank to “big five” after Disney bought most of 20th Century Fox nearly 10 years ago, and that another shift could establish a new “big four” era if the Warner sale proceeds, placing a larger Paramount alongside Disney, Universal and Sony.

News operations are also central to the deal’s potential effects. AP said CNN would come under the same ownership as Paramount-owned CBS, a change that would pair two of the largest U.S. television news brands under one corporate structure. Whether CNN would continue as a distinct brand from CBS remains unclear, but critics have expressed concerns about how Paramount’s control could influence CNN—especially given the longstanding political attention CNN has drawn from President Donald Trump and his allies.

AP reported that some critics point to Trump’s relationship with the Ellison family, including Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s financial backing of the bid through his son’s company. The story also said CBS has already seen leadership changes since Skydance acquired Paramount less than a year ago, including the appointment of Bari Weiss—Free Press founder—as editor-in-chief of CBS News. If the Warner takeover is approved, some expect similar newsroom changes at CNN.

Officials in the Trump administration have also weighed in publicly, AP said, including a March White House attack on CNN’s coverage of the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran and statements from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth about the network’s next ownership. Ellison, AP reported, has said editorial independence “will absolutely be maintained,” adding that it is maintained at CBS and would be maintained at CNN, and noting the company’s aim to reach a broad audience described as center-left or center-right.

Even with commitments around editorial independence, the deal is expected to face intense scrutiny from regulators. AP said the acting head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division has said the review would not be political, but critics remain skeptical after Paramount’s recent path: AP noted that the Skydance acquisition of Paramount was approved by the Federal Communications Commission shortly after a company agreement to pay Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit over editing on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

If the transaction ultimately clears review, AP said Paramount would expand further into additional television and cable holdings. The company owns Discovery, TNT, TBS, Food Network, Cartoon Network and Animal Planet, among others, and those properties would come under Paramount ownership if the deal is finalized, alongside Paramount’s existing broadcast lineup.